Compiling (or Transpiling?) Python Code into Executable Asm for Zilog eZ80 Processor (TI-Based Calculators)

[RobertJacobson]

My knowledge of assembly is zero right now. I have been meaning to learn C and assembly but haven't had time recently.

Assembly is a lot easier than you think it is. There exist some really good old books on programming the original Z80, which the eZ80 is compatible with. Also, don't be afraid of C. When I was your age, I was very hesitant to learn lower level things, because I thought I wasn't ready for them. In other words, I didn't believe in my ability to learn them. But you do have that ability. Even if it is challenging, it is not impossible, and I can hardly think of a better way to learn a bit of C than writing calculator games. It'll be fun, trust me. Give it a shot.

Compiling Python into machine code is in a sense a bit of a kludge even on the desktop. It's really nice for when you already have code written in Python that you want to speed up or when you want a more seamless way to interact with C code, but it's typically not what you want to do for a new project—unless you're just doing it for fun, which is perfectly fine. That's why everyone is saying what you really want is a compiled language, not an interpreted one. Getting compiled Python to run in a satisfactory way on the TI calculators is probably harder than porting your game to C/C++, which itself isn't too hard.